Fake GTI

"yitznewton" (yitznewton) 04/27/2016 at 20:33 • Filed to: None

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There’s this clean-looking Mk4 GTI I see locally. It’s a sort of red-orange, which always struck me as not being a factory color, so I was curious. Then I looked inside, and said “hey, that’s not a GTI steering wheel...” I start looking around, and it appears to be a rebadged Golf. I’m dying to know the owner’s story.

benchslap > yitznewton 04/27/2016 at 20:36

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What makes you think it’s the wrong steering wheel? MKIV GTIs came with both three and four spoke steering wheels. They also came in a red-orange color.

BobintheMtns > benchslap 04/27/2016 at 20:37

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I believe it was the MKV Gti’s that came in the orange color - “Fahrenheit edition” I recall.....

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > yitznewton 04/27/2016 at 20:38

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The owner’s story probably starts and ends at “wanted a GTI, couldn’t afford one”

benchslap > BobintheMtns 04/27/2016 at 20:41

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Tropic orange

My speed3 is happy > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 04/27/2016 at 20:47

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Or worse: “wanted a golf, got upsold a ‘GTI'"

facw > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 04/27/2016 at 20:48

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I still don’t get slapping the GTI badge on it though. Seems like it would be a constant reminder of being too poor (as well as too vain). A regular mkIV Golf can still be a fun little car.

yitznewton > benchslap 04/27/2016 at 20:48

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Well look at that! Tropic Orange. That could possibly be the right color, though I feel like it was darker. I haven’t seen the car in a while, but I’ll take a closer look next time, maybe creep the VIN to satisfy my morbid curiosity. I don’t remember everything I saw that made me suspicious.

BobintheMtns > yitznewton 04/27/2016 at 20:57

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coelacanthist > yitznewton 04/27/2016 at 20:58

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Stupid car to rebadge. People who don’t know VWs think they are all GTIs and don’t even know what that means. Anyone who knows enough to care... won't.

The Ghost of Oppo > yitznewton 04/27/2016 at 20:58

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What did the steering wheel look like? Various steering wheels came on MKIVs and you could have gotten the same one on a 2.slow Jetta as a VR6 GTI. R32s were the only MKIV to get a unique steering wheel and changing out steering wheels is common in the scene.

Then GTIs came in three different redish to orange colors, tropic orange, matchstick red, and flash red. None of them are your traditional red color and I’ve noticed the matchstick and flash reds haven’t held up well with time, so it might it might have faded as well.

How many doors did it have?

Übel > yitznewton 04/27/2016 at 21:03

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The most obvious things to look for are the tail lights. Grey turn signals and reverse lights = GTI, Orange and white = Golf. Also, if you’re in the US and it’s a 4-door, it’s also fake. There were a few 2-door Golfs, but not many, so it’s a pretty reasonable indicator. Otherwise, VIN is the only way to know for sure.

yitznewton > The Ghost of Oppo 04/27/2016 at 21:05

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It was a 2-door. I’ll pay closer attention next time I see it. The paint looked to be in quite good condition, which made me assume it’s not original paint, since pretty much all the Mk4's I see around have paint wear, and this car is commonly parked at the train station, so I’m assuming it was not a garage queen.

The Ghost of Oppo > yitznewton 04/27/2016 at 21:14

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2-door MKIV Golfs aren’t common, but there were some. The easiest way to tell is the exhaust, as long as it looks stock. 2.slow and TDI tailpipes curved downward and were tucked under the bumper. 1.8T and VR6s had cutouts in the valance for the pipes to come straight out.